The present invention relates generally to a vehicle body structure and more particularly to the rear skirt corner structure of an automotive vehicle body.
It has been the common practice, in the structure of the rear corner portion of an automotive vehicle body, to join the rear portion of the rear-quarter panel outer and the left and right end portions of the rear skirt by patching (using a splicing sheet or patch) as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 151182/1985.
As conducive to a full understanding of the present invention, the nature and limitations of such patches and related construction of the prior art will first be described with respect to a typical example thereof and with reference to FIGS. 8 through 11 of the accompanying drawings, which will be briefly described hereinafter.
In the prior art, one example of the patch mentioned above is as shown in FIG. 11. The patch 1 has a planar web portion 11 with an arcuate inner edge. Along a straight side edge of the planar web 11, a bent-up portion 12 is formed. Along the arcuate inner edge mentioned above, a bent-up flange 13 is formed. Along a rear edge of the planar web 11, a bent-down flange 14 is formed. The patch 1 is of an approximately triangular shape in plan view.
As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, a drainage trough 21 of a substantially channel cross section is formed by bending at the upper inner edge of a rear quarter panel outer 2. The patch is fitted against the rear portion of the drainage trough 21 and is thus spot-welded to the patch 1. A substantially channel cross section formed by the bent-up portion 12, the planar portion 11, and the bent-up flange 13 of the patch 1 is adapted to the shape of the drainage trough 21. Furthermore, a portion of substantially Z-shaped cross section is formed by the bent-up flange 13, the bent-down flange 14, and the planar portion 11 of the patch 1. This Z-shaped portion is fitted to a rear skirt 3 of similar Z-shaped cross section and spot-welded thereto. A numeral 7 designates a trunk lid.
By this construction, a bent-up inner edge face 21a of the drainage trough 21 of the rear quarter panel outer 2, which is a rim of an opening of a trunk room, and a bent-up inner edge face 3a of the rear skirt 3 are connected via the bent-up flange 13 of the patch 1. Thus, the rear quarter panel outer 2 and the rear skirt 3 are in joined state.
In the known structure described above, the patch 1 and the rear quarter panel outer 2 are mutually joined by spot-welding each other from an open section as shown in FIG. 10. For this reason, when the vehicle body is subjected to a twist, the load (stress) is transmitted roundabout as indicated by the arrow marks in FIG. 10. Therefore, the rigidity of such a portion is lowered.
In general, there is a type of automotive vehicle in which, as shown in FIG. 1, each rear combination lamp 5 extends to and extensively around the side face portion of the body. In a vehicle of this type, the rear end portion of the rear quarter panel outer 2 is divided into upper and lower portions by a cutout formed therein for mounting the combination lamp 5. Consequently, there is further difficulty in attaining the rigidity of the rear quarter panel outer as described above.